Experts say far-left political movement is ‘complete opposite’ of an organised group
https://www.ft.com/content/04ba905f-f965-4f7b-80ab-cccb0f912ddc
"As protests over the death of George Floyd turned violent in recent days, Donald Trump and his administration detected the hand of a political organisation that experts say is not really an organisation at all. The object of the president’s ire is known as the “Antifa” — shorthand for “anti-fascist” — movement, a decentralised group of far-left activists who advocate using violence to combat white supremacists and neo-Nazis and trace their roots to 1960s Europe. The president tweeted that the US would be “designating Antifa as a Terrorist Organization”, although only foreign groups can be classified as such under US law. Kayleigh McEnany, White House press secretary, called Antifa “a big element of this protest” and Mr Trump’s national security adviser Robert O’Brien blamed Antifa for stoking the unrest. “They are using military-style tactics and travelling around the country to take advantage of these situations and burn down our cities,” Mr O’Brien told ABC News. Experts who study extremist groups, including Antifa, say the actual protests paint a more complicated picture. So far, they say, there is little evidence that such extremists are organising the violence or playing a significant role in the movement. There are just not enough Antifa members to do this logistically Mark Bray, historian at Rutgers University They also stress that Antifa is an unlikely organiser of national protests, because it has no central command, a minimal online presence and acolytes who often band together in local cells focused on regional issues. “[Antifa] keeps being labelled by policymakers as if it’s this organised group and it’s the complete opposite of what it is,” said Kevin Grisham, assistant director of research at the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, San Bernardino. Mr Grisham said people who identified with Antifa tended to be less organised than their foes on the far-right. Unlike white nationalists, who communicate frequently online, Antifa groups tended to be much more cautious, even on the internet, making them harder to track, he added."
Funny thing about Antifa.. All across the nation, every major city, and some not major at all. They seem disorganized.. And the media pretty much ignores them, unless you dig a little... Then, you can find hundreds of outrageous actions on their part.
Attorney General William Barr and FBI Director Chris Wray appeared together at a news conference Thursday to provide an update on the federal response so far to the protests and pockets of violence that have erupted around the country since the death of George Floyd.
"We have evidence that antifa and other similar extremist groups, as well as actors of a variety of different political persuasions have been involved in instigating and participating in the violent activity," Barr said. "We are also seeing foreign actors playing all sides to exacerbate the violence."
Barr said there has so far been 51 federal arrests in connection with violent looting and rioting.
As a part of his remarks, Barr also weighed in on the nature of the concerns expressed by protesters about the inequities of the criminal justice system, and said he would be holding meetings with DOJ's law enforcement commission and have conversations with community leaders to "find constructive solutions."
"While the vast majority of police officers do their job bravely and righteously, it is undeniable that many African Americans lacked confidence in our American criminal justice system," Barr said. "I believe that police chiefs and law enforcement officials and leaders around the country are committed to ensuring that racism plays no part in law enforcement, and that everyone receives equal protection of the laws."
Note the verbiage in bold. Sounds like the FBI and Barr are working together on this.
https://www.thenation.com/article/activism/antifa-trump-fbi/
Just another battle between the MSM and Trump, this one about whether Antifa has/had a noteworthy presence at some of the rally's that were violent.
You can bet that most of the news in this will be spun to tell us 2 completely opposite sides.
Did anybody see the video where radicals actually train to infiltrate in small numbers, inflict maximum damage with out being seen in the larger mob. An investigative journalist penetrated a small cell. Journalist is since retired. They take security of their cells very seriously
An example is training to inflict pain on eye balls. Very little pressure is needed and can be done quickly
Another is to always wear colthes that blend ib while complete face covering to avoid detection by video or other cameras
Obviously trained under cover specialist can spot some of the radicals, so they know they are active in causing mob violence. Does anybody think under cover is going to reveal methods and means to the media, other than to say radicals have penetrated large crowds
It makes sense that both under cover operators and radicals have nothing to gain by advertising their presence